It all started with jealousy...the green eyed monster. My girlfriend knits the most beautiful things, and I couldn't knit. I have crocheted for over ten years, but that wasn't good enough for me...I wanted to be able to knit things like she did. The problem? I couldn't knit :/ She sent me to www.knittinghelp.com where they have videos teaching people like me how to knit. I started knitting...and it was actually turning out!! I mean it was just the knit and purl stitch...but those two stitches weren't awful, it was very encouraging! :o)
As I started making nicer things, I naturally wanted nicer yarns to make them out of. I had picked up a bag of yarn at a thrift store and in it was a part of our future...it was a little white ball of Angora yarn...and it felt like Heaven! I would have never thought a bag of thrift store yarn could change us so much.
I began my search for Angora yarn...and immediately went into sticker shock! So being the country girl I am I thought "I'll just get me a rabbit and do it myself!" After all...as a family, we really try to be a self sufficient...and we usually do pretty well with such things...surely we can do this!
And so began the search for what turned out to be the very allusive German Angora Rabbit in the southeastern United States. We searched, and we searched....and we searched. We just couldn't find any for sale. I found dozens of websites that hadn't been updated in years. I sent all sorts of emails that were mostly never answered. I even left a few phone messages where numbers had been listed, with not a single call back. I was beginning to think there was some German Angora Rabbit Conspiracy!! My Darling took me out for an evening and we stopped by Barnes and Noble. I browse the magazine section and find Spin Off (a Spinners and fiber magazine), and what do you think the featured animal was??? Yup, you guessed it...Angora Rabbits! I was being taunted. I knew how great they were, I knew we wanted one...and no where could one be found south of the Mason Dixon Line and East of the Mississippi.
At the time I was about to give up, to just get a couple of other Angoras (which are beautiful as well, but not what we were looking for), the Lord worked it all out in a way we would have never thought :o) I was chatting via instant messenger with a dear sweet friend and mentioned I was looking for a rabbit, I never said what kind. She popped right back that she had a friend from her Bible study group that raised rabbits and sent me a link. I opened it up...and it was as if a small ray of light fell and I knew instantly that we had found the farm that we would get our rabbits from!! They were exactly what we were looking for. If you are up north or can get to Maine, look up www.backacresangora.com , Ken and Sherry are great people with great purebred German Angoras. I had been looking down here, hoping to not drive quite so far...I just needed to get the big picture...to get great rabbits I was going to have to drive where most German Angoras are bred and raised.
So I called and chatted with Sherry. They have two beautiful purebred registered German Angoras, Ollie and Mabel, who were bred and are due within the week. So right now we sit anxiously awaiting the delivery, and hoping and praying that there will be two does in there.
In the meantime we are preparing for them. We went to our local farm store today and ordered two cages for them. As a side note...we encourage you to patronize your small local family owned businesses as much as you possibly can. You may pay a few penny's more...but the cost to the community if those places are forced to close due to big box stores would be enormous. We firmly believe when you help take care of the small businesses in your community they will in turn help take care of you!
I had ordered a top whirl drop spindle with a sampling of Fiber off of Ebay and it came in today. My next post may be on my adventures with that! Stayed tuned!! lol They make it look so easy on the Youtube videos I've watched...but we'll see. I also ordered some extra fiber from another farm...I'll be reviewing them as well!!
Come join us on our journey...for the love of Fur and Fiber!
